Wednesday at the 2017 Apia International Sydney was all about extreme weather conditions as the day’s quarterfinal matches were played in brutal heat in Sydney Olympic Park.

Caroline Wozniacki and Barbora Strycova had to endure the worst of it. Their thrilling three-setter was played in the mid-day heat, when temperatures inside Ken Rosewall Arena reached heights of 41.5 degrees Celsius, causing a 10-minute break between sets two and three.

At the end of a thrilling 3:20 hr battle, Strycova was the first player to make it into the semifinals. The Czech Fed Cup hero will be joined by Eugenie Bouchard, as the popular Canadian backed up her strong run in Sydney with a quick straight-set win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Also through to the round of the last four is Britain’s Johanna Konta, after her straight set win over Daria Kasatkina, as well as the 2015 Sydney champion Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Ying-Ying Duan to punch her ticket for the semis that are due to be played on Thursday.